I asked this same question yesterday, but looking for more advice!
My 20 month old son has been in his big boy bed for about a week. Night time is no trouble - he stays in bed and sleeps all night. Nap time is a different story! He keeps getting out of bed (but stays in his room) and it fairly content but just not sleeping. Occasionally yelling Mamma mamma!He definitely needs to sleep and I made sure we had lots of physical activity this morning. How do I handle this.....?
Ignore and wait til he falls asleep (on the floor or wherever)? Ignore but get him after set amount of time and do an early bedtime instead? Keep returning him to his bed? Help!!!
BACKGROUND: He's always been an excellent sleeper and very used to self soothing, falling asleep alone, etc.
Added: he usually fiddles with the curtains, door, vent, etc. Thing that we can't exactly get rid of. There are no toys.
I seriously wish I had a video monitor to know if he's wandering around or at least in the bed - but I don't. As long as he was in the bed, I wouldn't be stressing about how I should be reacting.
The novelty of being able to get up out of his bed is more than likely more tempting during daylight. Make his room as dark as possible so it resembles nighttime, and as childproofed as possible so he can't harm himself, and don't worry if he falls asleep on the floor, the main thing is that he rests and sleeps. Eventually he'll decide to stay in bed.
This might not have anything to do with a different bed. It's possible he is growing and needs a different schedule. I would try following his lead a bit for a few days and really watch for signs that he's getting sleepy. Maybe his nap time just needs to be adjusted a little bit.
What is he doing in his room instead of sleeping. I took the approach with my daughter that there will be no toys in the bedroom. It is strictly a place to sleep. As she got use to this routine, I let her bring in a few stuffed animals and books, but that is it. I give her 20 minutes to play and then tell her that if she doesn't settle down and go to sleep, that I will remove all the toys from her room. It works for me. She was 2 1/2 when we moved her so her comprehension was a little better. Also, we did push her nap time to 1:30 instead of 12:30 and she did much better about falling asleep faster.
Adjust to a later nap time.
Watch for signs of when he is tired.
Also, my son did this at this age. He actually would skipped his nap for
about 2 months but then got back on until he was almost 3.
Bedtime can be adjusted to a little later also if he ends up taking a later naps.
I had to adjust my son's nap times 2 or 3 times due to this.
I, also, made sure had lots of activity & stimulation (I'd play w/him, show him toys, play puppets w/him.
Don't be surprised if in about a month he starts taking a nap again but at a later time slot.
Just adjust your entire schedule down accordingly like a sliding scale.
